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Abdulaziz Degambir
Abdulaziz Degambir (7 June, 1896 in Islamabad, Pakistan - 28 August, 1952 in Koningstad, Brunant) was a Brunanter-Pakistani entrepreneur and public intellectual, and an important figure in both Brunant's textile industry and Arab-Brunanter civil rights. He is the primary founder of the Degambir Company and the Degambir Complex in the Arabian Quarter, Koningstad, and a member of the Degambir family. Biography Early life Degambir was born in Pakistan (then still part of British India) to a Bengalese-Pakistani father and an Arabian mother. In 1902, his household fled Pakistan, because of civil disturbances/conflicts and possibly several family feuds. After travelling, the family lived in Cyprus for roughly a year and a half, before moving again for unclear reasons (though it is reputed that the process may not have been entirely voluntary on the part of the family). After another period of a year and a half in which they repeatedly moved (mostly within Malta and Italy), the family settled in Brunant in 1905. The family settled in Koningstad's Arabian Quarter, as there was a nascent Arab population present there (a more similar culture to that which they had lived in before). However, there proved to be problems with Abdulaziz's parents' education, and, with only few acquaintances, his father had trouble finding good employment, causing the family to become poorer - and they were not particularly rich to begin with, having fled from Pakistan with multiple children and having moved countries several times since. It is also believed that Abdulaziz's father faced anti-Arab discrimination at numerous jobs. While Abdulaziz excelled in school, his family was unable to afford him attending tertiary education at the time. Founding of the Degambir Company In 1914 Abdulaziz Degambir finished secondary education, but, his family still being too poor to let him attend tertiary education, sent him into the workforce (he managed to avoid military drafting for WWI mainly due to not being a full Brunanter citizen at the time). For a period of roughly nine months, Abdulaziz worked, largely alongside his father, at several factories in Industriestad. In 1915, however, having faced injuries, poor pay and racism, he decided that this type of labour was not suitable for him, and quit. Having learnt techniques in Arabian carpet-making and other textile from his family, he noticed that a textile market was largely absent from Koningstad, even the Arabian Quarter. This led him to, with several siblings and friends, set up a weaving/Arabian textile company/shop, which he named the Degambir Company, with a partial objective of allowing him to save up money to eventually take a tertiary course/degree. The Degambir Company only grew slowly in its first years, with its wares largely viewed as exotic curiosities by the European population in the area, but dismissed by some Arabians as being "sub-standard". Stagnation in the economy due to WWI (and also less customers than could usually be expected due to this) likely also contributed to this fact. But, with increasing profit, Degambir was able to afford better machinery and tools, and was also able to save up money, as he had been intending to. Notably, the Degambir Company was slightly halted in 1917 because of troubles with the Degambir family: a believed family feud rose to the surface when several Pakistani acquaintances of the family travelled to Brunant, and both the family's home and the (nearby) headquarters of the Degambir Company were repeatedly vandalised over a period of several months. Also, a cousin and co-worker of Abdulaziz died in a suspicious accident, thought by some to be a homicide. The local police launched an investigation into the vandalism and the death, but many of those involved (excluding Abdulaziz's household) fled the country, and no prosecutions ultimately took place. Royal University of Koningstad At the end of the First World War, business picked up for the Degambir Company (as well as for Brunant as a whole). This increase in business finally allowed Degambir to raise enough funds to enrol in a tertiary course, at the nearby Royal University of Koningstad. In 1919, soon after reaching the age of twenty-three, he enrolled at the University, in a degree in philosophy. He also took a minor course in chemistry. While at the university, he met Martina Fontenoy, with whom he would fall in love. This posed problems, however, as Fontenoy came from a Catholic Barzuna family. Numerous of Degambir's family and acquaintances opposed this "affair", largely due to religious/cultural differences. Abdulaziz's family had also tried to arrange marriages for him several times in the past, but these all fell through, not least because of the refusal of Abdulaziz himself. His relationship with Martina Fontenoy caused both tension within his family and the Muslim community in the area in general, who disapproved of the relationship on religious grounds alone. In 1923, Degambir graduated from the Royal University of Koningstad with a bachelors' degree. He intended to take a graduate course, but did not have enough funds to immediately enrol in that. During Abdulaziz's studying, his work at the Degambir Company had slightly taken a back seat, with the company mainly being ran by his colleagues/associates and some of his family. After gaining the degree, Degambir resumed full-time work at the Degambir Company, in order to gather more funds. He also became formally engaged to Martina Fontenoy during this period, to the chagrin of some of his family (and also some of Fontenoy's Catholic family). Family life On 26th January 1924, Degambir married Fontenoy in Nieuw Helmond, at the house of David Rogerson, a friend of his from the Royal University of Koningstad (a neutral location with regards to Degambir's Muslim family and Fontenoy's Barzuna one). Over the next few years, Degambir and Fontenoy had four children: Mohammed (1925), Martin (1927), Fatima (1929) and Walid (1930). After the end of World War II, Brunant experienced an influx of Arabian immigrants. With many of these immigrants initially unable to find jobs, Degambir decided to expand the Degambir Company to create many jobs. Employing a considerable fraction of the new immigrants, the Degambir Company increased rapidly in size during the late 1940's, and was the largest textile company in Brunant by 1950. However, the success of the Degambir Company within the generally still struggling Brunanter economy triggered xenophobic sentiments against the company from native Brunanters, and even racism from Jewish refugees who had settled in the Inter District. In 1952, a group of people opposed to the Degambir Company rioted and attacked the Degambir Complex, killing numerous people working there, including the 56 year-old Abdulaziz Degambir. Legacy After Abdulaziz's death, the Degambir Company was inherited by his children. However, the Degambir Company was merged with another textile company in the late 1970's after a period of poor business, and for a while the Degambir Complex lay mostly abandoned, apart from some occasional small-scale textile production. In 1992, the Degambir family revived the Degambir Complex, transforming most of it into a museum documenting Abdulaziz Degambir's life and the Degambir Company, while continuing some small-scale production. In 2005, a statue of Degambir was built in the centre of the Complex. Category:Dead people Category:Businesspeople Category:Arab Brunanters Category:Royal University of Koningstad alumni Category:1896 births